In pursuance of Royal Decree No. 9/2021 and other Decrees stipulating OAAAQA’s roles and responsibilities, and in fulfillment of the Authority’s Mission which aims at “Guiding and supporting the education sector in Oman to meet the relevant national priorities and objectives while maintaining internationally benchmarked standards”, the OAAAQA has worked in recent years on developing a robust programme accreditation system. This system aligns with international good practice and is designed to instil public confidence in the quality of higher education programmes offered in the Sultanate of Oman.
The programme accreditation system includes national standards for academic programmes, as well as programme standards assessment process. Both the standards and the process are included in the Programme Standards Assessment (PSA) Manual. This Manual also sets out how PSA Panels are formed as well as explains in detail the PSA outcomes, how assessment is carried out against Standards and Criteria and how PSA Reports are drafted. The Manual also includes tools for higher education institutions to carry out their programme self-assessment against relevant Standards and Criteria; and it defines the approach to be used by external reviewers in the assessment of programmes.
You can find the PSA Manual below.